On January 4, 2007, Deval Patrick will be sworn in as Governor. This was expected - he won the election this past November.
However, what was unexpected that is causing quite a stir is that current Governor and 2008 Republican Hopeful Mitt Romney will not be on hand for the festivities nor will he, as Massachusetts Governors for generations past have done, do what is known as the "lone walk" where after he hands over the state to Deval Patrick, he leaves the State House one last time, by himself and walks away from his office.
Instead, Mitt Romney will leave the State House under the cover of night the night before and refuses to take part in the festivities on the 4th. Local historians believe this is the first time in history an exiting governor has departed under the cloak of darkness.
Nothing stinks quite like the smell of hypocrisy of Republican leadership.
Now please remember, Deval Patrick didn't beat Mitt Romney and force him to leave so there isn't a harsh campaign to blame for Mitt's absence. So what's gives?
I have boiled it down to two possibilities. Deval Patrick is having an outdoor ceremony and Mitt The Chicken is afraid to face the crowd on his way out. A profile in lack of courage. If Al Gore had the strength and decency to welcome George Bush to the White House in late 2000, surely Governor Romney could find the cojones to say hi to Deval.
Or could it be that having reneged on this gay rights stance and doing everything he possibly can to appeal to the far right of his party, maybe, just maybe, Mitt The Wannabe Wingnut doesn't want to have his picture in the paper to be used against him shaking hands with, of all things, a black man.
That just won't play well in some parts of the country will it Mitt? Gee, if you had stayed out West and been Governor of Utah, this probably wouldn't have happened.
So Mitt, here's the way I see it. It's December 22. Plenty of time to move some things around and actually be around on January 4th. If you show and shake Deval's hand, I'll write a retraction right here.
If you don't, I'll put you down for a coward. And a racist. Seems fair to me.